Chair style is an important factor in the commercial success of a chair. One such style of chair is known as a “high-leg” chair. The high-leg chair may be envisioned as removing the lower section of a typical upholstered chair and extending the support legs from the bottom of the chair to the floor. The support legs can then be made into more fashionable designs. Another style of chair is a space-saving recliner in which the chair is often able to fully recline but does not extend backward when reclined as is typical with reclining chairs. This space-saving design allows a fully reclining chair to be placed close to a wall or object behind the chair. One problem encountered when attempting to incorporate a high-leg style into a space-saving recliner design is that any lower portion of the chair removed for the purpose of high leg styling also removes the lower portion of the main ottoman that provides support for a user's feet when the chair is reclined, reducing the user's comfort.
Previous attempts to remedy the reduced support offered by a smaller main ottoman resulting from a high-leg chair design have incorporated a secondary ottoman into the ottoman linkage (also known as the footrest linkage). In these previous attempts, however, the reclining mechanism included in the high-leg chair was a traditional mechanism that moves up and toward the rear of the chair when the chair extends to recline. The movement of the traditional mechanism provides sufficient clearance for a secondary ottoman to extend during reclining.
In contrast to the movement of a traditional mechanism, in a space-saving design, the initial movement of the reclining mechanism is forward and downward. This forward and downward movement does not provide adequate clearance for a secondary ottoman to extend during reclining, making the incorporation of a secondary ottoman to provide additional foot support unworkable in a high-leg chair with a fully reclining, space-saving design.
Another drawback of secondary ottomans incorporated into traditional mechanisms is that the weight of the secondary ottoman often causes the secondary ottoman to pivot open slightly. This in turn causes the main ottoman to pivot open slightly. Because the main ottoman forms the lower front portion of the chair, the end result of the slight pivoting of the secondary ottoman is that the chair appears slightly open when it is supposed to be in the closed and upright position. A common way to prevent this undesirable appearance is to add an extension spring to hold the ottoman closed. The extension spring, however, creates an additional problem, because the occupant of the chair must overcome significant added spring pressure to extend the chair into a reclining position. The addition of an extension spring is also costly, and the spring can be unreliable.